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RSPCA Cruelty figures

This dog was found emaciated and with matted fur - but survived Photo: RSPCA

The RSPCA publishes its latest "cruelty tables" today - and they make uncomfortable reading.

West Yorkshire had more people convicted of animal cruelty last year than anywhere else in the north of England - with 216 reports and 82 convictions.

It's not much better elsewhere in the region with 90 reports and 60 convicitons in East Yorkshire; 101 reports and 72 convictions in North Yorkshire; 78 reports and 41 convictions in South Yorkshire and 69 reports and 30 convictions in Lincolnshire.

The RSPCA says it is dealing with a "rising tide" of animal cruelty and that it's stretching the charity to breaking point.

The number of people convicted for cruelty and neglect to animals rose by nearly a quarter in England and Wales last year.

Cases being highlighted ahead of the charity's major fundraising push, RSPCA Week 2012, include a dog repeatedly stabbed with a potato peeler, a collapsed and emaciated dog dumped on Christmas Day morning and a dog which ate her dead mate to survive after being abandoned in a flat.

· 1,069 people reported to the RSPCA prosecutions department compared to 1,127 in 2010 - a decrease of 5.2%

RSPCA chief executive Gavin Grant said:

"The RSPCA faces a crisis that is stretching us to breaking point."We show zero tolerance to animal abusers. Anyone causing animals pain for profit or pleasure will be tracked down and prosecuted."We need the courts and councils, police and people who care to join us in standing up and getting justice for Britain's abused animals."